Of Dragons And Phantoms
by ThatGirlWhoWantsToBeAwesome
Summary: My name is Nina. That's all I'm going to tell you. Why you ask? Because you might hand me over to THEM. Who are THEY, you ask? Sorry, ain't tellin' you that either. Can't have you sayin' you saw a suspicious person. Because I'm being hunted. Why, you ask yet again. I'm a conundrum, an anomoly, an impossibility. Yet here I am. So let me ask you, do you fear what you dont understand?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! I'm back! Made a few changes, added some things, fixed mistakes. I have a beta reader now! HOO-RAY! Maybe this will be better. Thanks to everyone who reviewed on the original, and for those wondering, this is NOT, I repeat, NOT a one-shot. I just don't have the next chapter up. See you guys in the next update and happy reading!**

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_The gentle creak of leather._

_The sound of a cheering crowd._

_The thunder of horse hooves._

_His heaving breath evens to match his human. _

_The perfect unison of horse and rider._

_A tap of the rein on his white neck. _

_A gentle nudge of the heel on his chocolate side._

_Playfulness dances in his glassy blue eyes._

_The horse races around the ring, listening to the gentle requests of his rider._

_"HA!" she says. He swings around to the left completing a circle._

_"HEE!" she hollers as he rounds a bend, changing his direction with the command._

_The crowd roars at the figure eight, but the pair do not hear it._

_With cues invisible to the eyes, the pair dance around the ring showing exceptional grace and precision._

_They complete their run with a rear and the girl throws her hat to the crowd._

_Time slows down._

_The crowd watches, horrified, as a hoof slips out from under the horse._

_He tips backwards,_

_and falls to the ground on top of his rider._

_The horse gets back to his feet._

_His girl,_

_doesn't._

_He screams pitifully as his best friend is wheeled away on a gurney._

_Humans he didn't know held him back. _

_He may not be the brightest crayon in the box, _

_but he heard something everyone else didn't._

_He heard bones snapping._

_And it hurt him to know that he did that to his friend. _

_He lost the will to live._

_He was so sure his friend was gone forever._

_That champion of a horse died two weeks later._

* * *

Nina Summerford laid there in her hospital bed and did the only thing she could do. She cried. They told her about her horse, her best friend, Hank. She cried because it was her fault, or that's what she felt like anyway. She clung tightly to his halter, a picture of him before the run, and a bracelet made from the hair out if his tail. It had been three months since then and the hospital was ready to release her.

* * *

"_You were lucky." The doctor had said. "The saddle horn puncture was left of your vital organs on only broke your ribs. Your left forearm was broken in four places and three bones in your right wrist shattered. You should be thankful that horse didn't kill you." He turned to her parents. "Perhaps you should dispose of the animal. It is to blame for this." he whispered quietly, but not quiet enough._

_"DONT YOU DARE PIN BLAME ON HIM!" Nina had roared at him. "HE DID NOT MEAN FOR THIS! YOU WERE NOT THERE! HOW COULD YOU KNOW IF HE WAS TO BLAME! FOR ALL YOU KNOW I COULD HAVE PULLED HIM OFF BALANCE!" She stopped for a moment. "I got hurt because of my own stupidity. it was a risky move making him rear like that and I'm rightfully suffering for it."_

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And her best friend was dead. She was inconsolable. Her friends tried to talk her out of it. None of it helped. She was done with life.

But the universe just hated her, so it poured salt on her wounds.

The doctors noticed her fast healing, and abnormalities in her bloodstream. It was only a matter of time before they reported it to the government and discover that she was not human. Well not fully anyway. She was a Pendragon. "Son of a dragon." the dictionary said. Who knew it applied to daughters as well. Nina's adoptive parents knew of her hybrid status and were going to help her run. Find a new place to call home. A year after she settled, she was going to find some way to contact them. Let them know she was ok. That was the plan.

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**Time skip: 1 month**

She slung her bag over her shoulder, the spurs on her boots jingling merrily as if to try to cheer her up. Her head was held down the black cowboy hat hid her eyes from passers by. Thunder rumbled in the sky as it began to rain. The wind gusted a little, blowing droplets of rain on her face, camouflaging her tears as the thunder rumbled again. She looked up, recalling an old legend that stated thunder was the hoof beats of the horses that had passed on. Her eyes passed a sign that read:

**Amity Park, IL**

**Population: 2,252**

She looked closer and saw "_And one ghost boy" _scrawled on the sign in messy handwriting that reminded her of her own. This place was nothing like Eva, Alabama, the small town she grew up in. No, This place was even bigger than Huntsville. She sighed and pulled her guitar out of the duffel bag it was in. She zipped it closed before the rain could wet her trumpet and various music stored in it as well. She played sad music that she had long since committed to memory. _This place keeps reminding me of home. Why can't I let go?_ She asked herself._ I know_ _I'll__ never be able to go back. _She felt a tug on the back of her fringed black t-shirt. A little boy stood there with bright glassy blue eyes and chocolaty brown hair.

"Can you play me a song?" he asked, childish innocence shone in the eyes that reminded her so much of someone she lost. Normally she would have just turned a cold shoulder and just kept walking but she replied to him, "Anythin' you want, Kiddo."

He made a motion to bend down so he could whisper in her ear. She smiled sadly when she heard his song choice. She strummed out a gentle tune on her guitar, slowly drawing in a small group of people. And she sang.

_"Quarter in the payphone,_

_dryin' laundry on the line._

_Watchin' suntea in the window._

_Pocket watch for tellin' time._

_Seems like only yesterday,_

_I'd get a blank cassette._

_Record the country countdown 'cause I couldn't buy it yet."_

She paused for a moment, looking up at the people listening to her. She smiled and continued on, the tune of the music picking up slightly, never breaking eye contact with the boy who suggested the song.

_"If we drove all the way to Dallas just to buy an Easter dress,_

_we'd take along a Rand McNally,_

_stand in line to pay for gas._

_God knows that shiftin' gears,_

_ain't what it used to be._

_I learned to drive that '55_

_just like a queen, three on a tree._

_Hey, whatever happened to,_

_waitin' your turn._

_doin' it all by hand!_

_Cause when everything is handed to you,_

_it's only worth,_

_as much as the time you put in._

_It all just seemed so good the way we had it!_

_Back before everything became,_

_Automatic."_

She stopped there with a gentle flourish note on her guitar and the little boy gave her a hug, and ran to who she assumed was his momma. He came back with a dollar.

"Thanks!" he said and ran back to his mother. The crowd gave her 10 dollars, collectively, and dispersed. Mostly. Three teens stayed behind. Two guys and a girl. They were an odd bunch to say the least. A Goth, an African American techno geek, who was videoing her as she performed, and an average guy. She was always irritated by the 'normal' people, being they were something she never would be. The only thing special about him was his eyes. They were ice blue and anyone could see the boyish innocence that played in them.

"That was pretty cool, what you did for James." Regular guy said. Great, not only does the kid remind her of her horse, he's also named after her best friend's brother. "I'm Danny by the way. This is Sam," Danny said pointing to the Goth next to him, "and that's-'

"Tucker Foley. That's TF as in Too Fine." The techno geek said. Sam stomped on his foot.

"Don't mind him. he just thinks he's a ladies man." She said, but the girl was already walking away, spurs jingling like bells. _I cant make ties. Can't talk to no one. Can't stay in one place. Gotta keep moving._

"Hey! I was talking to you!" Sam shouted. She ran up to the girl and put a hand on her shoulder. Her elbow slammed backward into Sam's chest, knocking the wind from her. The girl used this distraction to take of down the street. She rounded the corner and checked for people. _Good, no ones here._ She reached deep into her self and brought fourth her dragon form.

* * *

Danny ran down the street, ready to give that girl a piece of his mind, his green eyes glowing with anger. He turned the corner in time to see a white dragon, with a black and midnight blue crest and tail fin look around hurriedly. Even in its evident fear, it held itself in a regal manor. Head held high, long ears up and alert, its obsidian claws anchored firmly to the ground. What shocked Danny the most is it set an duffel bag down, placed a guitar, the same one the girl had, in it and laced its head through the strap. The bag hung neatly on its shoulder and it spread its wings. A bound forward and one down stroke of its powerful wings was more than enough to get it airborne. Danny scanned the horizon then changed into Danny Phantom, preparing to fly up after it. Sam grabbed his hand.

"Danny what are you doing?!" Sam asked.

"I'm not so sure myself," He replied. The overcast sky lit up and the sounds of battle could be heard. Danny's ghost sense went off. "Well now I'm going to go kick some ghostly butt." And he flew up to go see what the commotion was about.

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**So how was that you guys? Good, Bad? Super super awful? drop me a review and let me know. I don't own Danny phantom or the song 'Automatic' by Miranda Lambert. Its actually a really good song. **

**TGWWTBA**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! I'm back with a new, though short,(sorry about that) chapter. Thanks to everyone that reviewed! Thanks also to my amazingly awesome Beta reader, Fiddlehoffer.**

***Gives out cyber muffins.***

**Seriously you guys are amazing. **

**Disclaimer~ I'm pretty sure I don't own Danny Phantom,*double checks*nope. I'm not Butch Hartman therefore I do not own Danny Phantom.**

**Happy reading~**

**TGWWTBA**

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_Nina POV_

Nina laughed as she twisted and twirled though the air, dodging the various missiles and rockets launched at her from what she assumed was a mechanical hunter of some sort. Sulker, Stalker, or something like that was his name, spouting nonsense about being the 'Ghost Zone's greatest hunter'. It was fun to see him become flustered and frustrated when he couldn't hit her.

She lunged forward at him, purposely flying close to him so that the turbulence off her wings would send him reeling. Then she flew off towards a wooded area that looked like a park. A fanged grin appeared on her face as she planned another move in the game of Cat and Mouse. Only she wasn't the mouse. She flew down low, almost brushing the tree tops. As she pulled her wings in to get optimal speed, she glanced backwards to see not one, but two black dots racing toward her. If she hadn't been flying, her shoulders would have risen into a small shrug. What was one more player to the game? Ducking into the trees, she feigned fear, as if trying to give them the slip, and with her excellent hearing, she heard them fall for it, hook, line and sinker.

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Danny watched as the dragon made the suicidal move of falling below the tree line. Not even he could dodge that many trees without flickering in and out of intangibility. Skulker chased after it, flying through the brush to catch up. Danny caught glimpses of white through the trees and decided to follow. He was astounded to see that the dragon, not only was it still alive, but also laughing as it ducked, twisted, and rolled in between the bottom tree branches and the ground. Even with the dodging, she was a good 20 feet ahead of him and Skulker. Skulker was angrier than ever. His prey wasn't trembling in fear, instead it was laughing at him like he was some plaything. He growled and blasted a tree in front his quarry. He grew even angrier when she simply blasted the falling timber with a fireball so intense, it turned the air around it to plasma, much like electricity did. Nina laughed and threw a childish "Nah nah nah boo boo!" his way. Skulker blasted every tree in front of his quarry, hoping to catch her off guard. In that moment, Nina threw her wings out, flying upwards on momentum, then corkscrewed to change direction and plunged right at Skulker. A rumble that was his only warning sounded, before the dragon let out a ball of supercharged, extremely hot fire. The fireball hit Skulker square on the chest and its heat welded most, if not all, of the mechanical parts in his suit together. The white terror landed in front of where he laid, and smirked, a mischievous fire burning in its eyes.

"That's what you get for cheating." She said with a smile, and not a second later, a blue light enveloped the ghost, sucking him into what appeared to be a modified thermos of some kind. The curiosity that was most likely going to get her killed one day surfaced and pondered on its inner workings but then was pushed away. She could wonder about it some other time.

Danny Phantom touched down soon after and got his first good look at her. She wasn't extremely tall, his head was probably even with her shoulder. Her wings were large and powerful, not narrow but not wide either. Long legs on black clawed paws were toned, and the neck, accentuated with dark blue scales running along her spine, were slender and aerodynamic. Her tail was long and tipped in a set of blue tail fins, which was twitching slightly, like the end of a cat's tail. A regal face crowned with a blaze of dark blue fur, undertoned with black, that started on the bridge of her nose and ended just after the pointy ears that tilted toward him. Her eyes were a striking shade of sapphire, looking down at Danny and they seemed to peer into his soul. They were off set by her white scales.

"Man! You're good! How'd you learn to fly like that?!" Danny asked excitedly.

She turned away from him. "Years and years of practice." She answered solemnly. Which was completely true. Her dragon half emerged at an extremely young age, making her the one of most experienced in the ways of her kind. Which made her the involuntary leader and teacher of every pendragon she knew. Which was just about every one of her friends. She was forced to leave them all behind. She quieted a sniffle and took off, away from the ghost boy, away from memories. She found a nice little clearing to sleep in for the night. Slipping the duffel bag off her neck to hang it on a branch so it wouldn't get wet, she transformed as the tears spilled over the weak dam until it burst. She just curled up on the ground and cried. All she wanted was to go home. Or finally be able to let go of the past. Or something to ease the pain. Something. She looked up at the sky, turning dark with the fading sun.

"You've taken everything from me." She sobbed. "My family, my friends, my home. "What more do you want from me!" She shouted at the paling sky. "What more can you take!"

"How about your freedom next?" A male voice said out of the darkness. A rag covered her face, forcing her to inhale through it. The effects were immediate. She felt groggy, her head spun, and she couldn't scream. Not that there was anyone out here to help her anyway. "Night, night. _Freak._"

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**Same as always, tell me how I did, I absolutely love hearing from you guys.**


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